Sunday, October 31, 2010

My second annual Halloween Mix Tape is now available for download at the mighty Cosmic Hearse! I don't need to wax poetic here because unless your head is up your ass you probably already worship at the daily shrine that is Aesop Dekker's incredible music blog. I actually don't often download music but Aesop is a fantastic writer and I always enjoy his perspective. He's obsessive, reverent, generous and good-natured and I was thrilled to be invited to guest post again this year. My collection of songs isn't necessarily kvlt, grim, obscure, rare, or even out-of-print but hopefully you'll be exposed to a few new/old sounds while you're carving your pumpkins. And here's a link to last year's mix in case you missed out. Happy Halloween!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

I don't often drag my family into the blog but this one is for my daughter. Her first record was The Slits LP Cut and she really resonated with their weird brand of spastic rasta punk from an early age. I never really got it myself, but what do I know? A few years ago when The Slits briefly reformed and passed through Portland my daughter had the opportunity to meet these pioneers face to face and get her vinyl signed. They showed up to their all ages record store appearance very late but delivered a lively set for the small dedicated throng who stuck around and were very gracious with their young (and old) fans. Sadly, news has hit the Internet that founding member Ari Up passed away today at the terribly young age of 48 due to a mysterious "serious illness". She struck me as a feisty lady who didn't take shit from anyone and she was definitely not a typical girl. Blast some Slits in her memory this week and remember the day when punk meant breaking the fucking rules and thinking for yourself.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

I love this time of year! The air is crisp, the sunsets are inspiring and the veil between life and death is stretched thin. It's harvest time! To celebrate, I've assembled two volumes of horror soundtrack music recorded exclusively from vintage vinyl and available for a limited time only at Mississippi Records in beautiful Portland City, Oregon. Each cassette contains 60 minutes of pulse-pounding, blood-curdling terror...THE SOUND OF FEAR! Cheaper than razor blades and sweeter than candy apples. Your ears will piss their pants!

Friday, October 01, 2010

I guess all of my bitching proved motivational because this past week I was flooded with one stunning submission after another! In fact, there were so many excellent entries that I've decided to recognize first, second and third place awards. I've also been moved to acknowledge a few artists whose work deserves honorable mention. To those of you who created work that does not appear here on the blog, all I can say is that I am deeply honored that you devoted time and energy to this contest. You have boldly distinguished yourselves from the multitude of smug cunts who clutter message boards with dull anonymous commentary but contribute nothing. For your effort, I salute you! Now let's celebrate the winners...

FIRST PLACE:

Eglė Tamulytė

I just love this wildly imaginative drawing by Eglė Tamulytė from Lithuania! Her claustrophobic crosshatching almost obscures the entire composition in darkness but never detracts from the detail or compromises the oppressive mood. You get the feeling she's never actually listened to the Subhumans record that inspired this contest and she almost certainly doesn't have time for your "fun" punk rock bullshit. "The day the internet dies," she explains, "Humankind will be lost in chaos, afraid of uncontrollable situation. Unpredictable flow of information will go around in circles like predatory animal-hybrids with artificial intelligence. Despair. Humanity will be feeling their hands have been cut. Powerless, weak, helpless like infants." You win, Eglė. I'll be sending you a copy of Destroying Angels #5 signed by Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman of SLAYER! Congratulations.

SECOND PLACE:

Carlos Gonzalez

I wonder if Carlos is a tattoo artist because this nasty little zombie apocalypse would look great etched into George Romero's flesh. The lines are strong and clean, the shading is smooth and the composition is pleasing to the eye. I also appreciate how he took elements from the original reference material such as the priest, moon, crowds, and aircraft and re-imagined them in his own style. Well done, Carlos. I'll be sending you a signed & numbered/limited edition print for your effort. Total Necro Death!!!!

THIRD PLACE:

Jack Mulkern

Of all the submissions I received, Jack played things the straightest with this hilarious parody of the original cover. He tells me he was inspired to enter the contest when he lost his Internet recently and was forced to watch ants parade across his table for entertainment. This is a classic case of raw spirit trumping technical ability. It's crude, loose and punk as fuck. Jack, I'll be sending you a double-sided Destroying Angels shirt which I expect you to immediately rip the sleeves off for maximum destruction in the pit. ONE, TWO, OUY KCUF!!!!

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Raquel Diez is a talented young tattoo artist/illustrator from Barcelona, Spain and I really enjoyed what she created for the contest. Stark, simple and fun. I appreciate that the 'banger she has portrayed has taken the theme of THE DAY THE INTERNET DIED into his own hands. Literally. Now that he's set all those monsters loose, how is he going to update his art blog???

Julien "Nagawika" Le Guennec is one of my favorite underground cartoonists out there these days. He has caused me to spit my beer out all over the computer screen on multiple occasions and his contest entry here was no exception. Be sure to check out the new issue of Destroying Angels for more of his work.

Here's a bizarre one from Michal Spryszak of Poland. What the fuck is going on here, Michal? The guy on the floor appears to have a dildo shoved up his ass and the priest seems altogether unfazed by the bullet that has just cast his brain out of cranial Eden. He even slipped in a funny Mayhem gag and if you look closely at the newspaper you'll discover yet another porn reference. You guys are a buncha' perverts!

This drawing by Carmelo Espanola looks like a splash panel from some weird underground comic that I'd love to read while listening to Voivod! I like the narrative flow. And the vomit flow. And the Leviathan logo on his neck. "We are connected. We are connected. We are connected..."

Thanks again to EVERYONE who sent in artwork. And a very special thanks to the mysterious Nick Lant who drew the original artwork for The Day The Country Died back in 1983! I'll post more contests soon! In the meantime...STAY ACTIVE!